Chief Retail Officer for Aéroports de Paris, Aude Ferrand, has confirmed to TRBusiness that the company is seeking a partner to acquire a 49% stake in its joint venture retail company which manages around 140 travel retail and duty free stores at its airports in the Paris region; Charles de Gaulle, Orly and Le Bourget.

The airport’s current core category duty free and travel retail joint venture partner is Lagardère Travel Retail.

Ferrand was unable to provide additional comments at this time as ADP has officially ‘entered the process’. The airport operator’s current retail partner, Lagardère Travel Retail has also been approached for comment.

The selected partner ‘must acquire’ a 49% stake in the subsidiary company of Aéroports de Paris which manages retail, says ADP. The 10-year contact is valued at €9.4 billion/US10.6 billion.

ADP says the annual turnover (averaged between 2017-2019) of the footprint currently managed by itself and Lagardère Travel Retail is €750m (excluding VAT), prompting Aéroports de Paris to stipulate that applicants should be able to prove a minimum annual turnover of €750 million/$US843 million.

DEADLINE: 15 DECEMBER

The joint company, which will be controlled by Aéroports de Paris, will be tasked with designing, fitting out, maintaining and operating around 140 retail and duty free points of sale at the airport operator’s Paris airports. The contract is due to begin on 1 January 2023 for a period of 10 years (due for renewal on 31 December 2032). The concession will not be divided into lots.

In the tender document, it stipulates that the joint venture, will operate and manage points of sale for the following categories: perfumes cosmetics, gastronomy and confectionery (excluding brands managed directly by Aéroports de Paris), alcohol, tobacco, electronics (photo, video, sound) and fashion (excluding brands managed directly by Aéroports de Paris).

Submissions must be sent by 15 December 2021 by 17.00 (CET). More details on obtaining tender documents can be found here: https://bit.ly/3r6QJKG

ADP says that the successful candidate will be able to operate through a central purchasing facility and boast a strong network of suppliers across the beauty, alcohol and tobacco sectors for the EMEA region.

The candidate must demonstrate, on the basis of supporting documents, the successful operation of duty free points of sale (beauty, alcohol and tobacco) in France or ​​at least one airport in the EMEA region, through a a contractual relationship directly with an airport which registered more than 20 million passengers in 2019.